Pictet Alternative Advisors acquires Technology Services Group
9 JUL, 2024
By Jose Luis Palmer from RankiaPro Europe
The team led by Edmund Buckley, head of direct private equity investments at Pictet AA, the alternative investments division of the Swiss Pictet Group, has acquired Technology Services Group ("TSG"), a UK-based provider of IT services to fast-growing small and medium-sized businesses.
TSG covers the full range of technology in the Microsoft ecosystem, to facilitate businesses' transition to cloud-based infrastructure. It holds seven Microsoft designations: Business Applications, Modern Work, Security, Digital & App Innovation, Infrastructure, Data & AI and Cloud, and is one of the few UK Microsoft Solutions Partners to accredit technical and implementation capability across Microsoft solutions, Azure & Cloud, enterprise applications and cyber security. Headquartered in Newcastle, with over 250 full-time employees and offices in London and Glasgow, it serves 1,300 customers across a range of industries in a market driven by strong outsourcing and digitisation trends. It is considered one of the top 50 tech companies to work for in the UK.
Andrzej Sokolowski, head of UK private equity at Pictet AA, notes that TSG has an attractive and defensible business model, with a high proportion of recurring revenues and clients who value quality of service and expertise across the Microsoft portfolio.
It has solutions in Azure, Dynamics and cybersecurity, as well as an accelerated deployment of artificial intelligence tools. We see significant growth potential in TSG, organically and through mergers and acquisitions.
We invest in high quality businesses led by leading entrepreneurs and are delighted to partner with Rory McKeand and the management team at TSG to help them achieve their growth objectives.
Edmund Buckley, Head of Direct Private Equity at Pictet AA
The demand for cloud services among SMEs is starting from a low base and is supported by Microsoft's powerful new generation of productivity tools. Pictet's investment and partnership will accelerate the next stage of our growth
Rory McKeand, CEO at TSG
Pictet AA has acquired TSG from the founding owners, Sir Graham Wylie and David Stonehouse, as well as the management team, which has reinvested part of the proceeds. Stonehouse said: 'We are proud of the growth and success TSG has achieved as a leading provider of exceptional quality, Microsoft and Cloud-focused IT services. We wish Rory, his team, the staff and Pictet all the best for the future'.
TSG is the second investment by Pictet AA's direct private equity team, having acquired a majority stake in Pareto FM, a leading provider of technical services for ESG facility management in the construction sector, in November 2023.
